Using Rocks For Fire-By-Friction

Fire Roll Using RocksSome months ago I was re-acquainted with the fire-roll method of fire-by-friction. I began to experiment with different fibers and powders and finally I tried a different flat surface material for rolling the tinder roll… rocks!

I occasionally walk creeks with the purpose of searching for artifacts and relics. The geology in my area includes a lot of sedimentary stone that flakes apart and with the fire-roll method I began to collect flat rocks that might be suitable for use.

Most of the rocks that I found had some imperfections like bumps, split levels, or curved surfaces but I was finally able to find some that were quite flat. I began to examine the compatibility of the stone surfaces and found a pair that seemed to fit well together. I used the larger stone for the bottom and the smaller stone to be hand held.

I began to process the stones to better match surfaces by rubbing the top stone over the bottom stone much like a sanding block over wood. That action created some dust that I blew off and then prepared a tinder toll to test. The first try did not succeed because the two surfaces where still a little rough and I had to discover the best zones on the rocks to work on. after preparing a second tinder roll I had success!

In a previous post a comment was made that the person had seen a video of someone making fire using rocks and wondered if it was a hoax. I’m here to say that rubbing two rocks together can make fire-by-friction and it was a delight to achieve!

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